Flake ice maker with rotary ice remover means



FLAKE ICE MAKER WITH ROTARY ICE REMOVER MEANS Filed June 12, 1964 May 24, 1966 D. F. sWANsoN ETAL May 24, 1966 D. F. swANsoN ETAL 3,252,299

FLAKE ICE MAKER WITH ROTARY ICE REMOVER MEANS i i 4' Zgl United States Patent O 3,252,299 FLAKE ICE MAKER WlTI-I ROTARY ICE REMGVER MEANS Donald F. Swanson and Wynn G. Winkler, St. Paul,

Minn., assignors to Whirlpool Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed .lune 12, 1964, Ser. No. 374,642 9 Claims. (Cl. 62-344) This invention relates to an ice making apparatus.

The ice maker of this invention utilizes the principle of flowing water over yan evaporator shell adapted to operate at a .subfreezing temperature and then removing the ice in the form of akes. One of the features of this invention is to provide an improved ice making apparatus of this type.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a detailed elevational view of a portion of the apparatus.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 6 6 of FIGURE 5.

The ice maker shown in the accompanying drawings comprises a generally cylindrical, horizontally arranged evaporator 10 that is attached to an insulated wall 11 to project inwardly of a refrigerated space 12. This space may be the interior of a storage compartment refrigerated in the customary manne-r (not shown).

The evaporator assembly comprises the shell 13 that is adapted to operate at a subfreezing tmperature and that i-s provided with a pair of opposite ends, one of which is adjacent the wall 11 and the other of which is spaced from the wall within the storage space 12.

The yshell 13 is provided with a pair of closures 14 and 15 for these ends preferably made of brass, with the closure 14 at one end, the end adjacent the wall 11, being attached to the end of a heat barrier cylinder 16 preferably made of `stainless steel or similar low heat conductivity insulating material. Extending between the end closures 14 and 15 to form Ia passage therethrough is a hollow tube 17 arranged concentrically with the evaporatorshell13.

As mentioned, the outer end of the heat barrier cylinder 16 is attached to one end closure 14 for supporting the entire evaporator assembly. The inner end of the barrier 16 extends through the wall 11 and is attached to a support member 18 that has an outer circular flange 19 bolted or otherwise attached to the wall 11 as by spaced bolts 20. This support member 18 is itself attached to a gear housing 21 which is attached to an electric motor 22. As shown in FIGURE 2, the gear housing 21 and motor 22 are external of the wall 11 while the support 18 extends into the wall.

' Refrigerant supply means in the form of a liquid refrigerant inlet tube 23 and refrigerant gas outlet tube 24 is provided extending through the heat barrier 16 into the interior of the evaporator shell 13 in the space between this shell and the tube 17. As is shown in FIG- URE 2, the inlet tube 23 discharges into the lower part of the shell while the outlet tube 24 returns refrigerant Vapor to an ordinary type refrigeration system (not shown). The refrigerant vapor tube 24 is located at the top of the shell 13 and is provided with spaced openings 25 on the top in the portion within the evaporator so that the vapor may enter the tube. Thus, the evaporator shell 13 operates not only as an evaporator but as an accumulator for liquid refrigerant.

Extending through the axial tube 17 is a driving means, here shown as a shaft 26, extending concentrically of the tube 17 but spaced therefrom. This tube at one end extends into the support member 18 through an opening 27 therein and is attached to the shaft 28 of the gear redu-cer 29 by means of a coupler 30.

The outer end of the shaft 26 extends through thev outer end closure 15, and this outer end Ais rotatably supported by means of an end bearing 31 between the shaft 26 and the tube 17. The inner end lot this bearing 31 is locked in position by means of a spring ring 32 on the shaft 26.

In order to provide ice, water is flowed over the outer surface of the evaporator 13 to be frozen thereon by the refrigerant which maintains the evaporator shell 13 at a subfreezing temperature. The water supply is as vfollows.

A water trough 33 is located above the evaporator shell 13 and approximately co-extensive therewith. This trough is mounted lat its outer end on an upwardly extending metal wall 34 and at its inner end by a mounting bracket 35. Mounting bracket 35 vis mounted on the end of the heat barrier 16 which is Within the storage lspace 12.

The upwardly extending wall 34 which is located adjacent the projecting inner end of the :shaft 26 forms a part of a Water catch basin 36 positioned beneath' the shell 13. Water that flows through spaced openings 37 in the trough 33 drops onto the evaporator shell 13 and a portion is frozen thereon while the excess drops into the catch basin 36. This catch basin at the bottom wall thereof slopes downwardly to a drain tube 60 which drains to ya reservoir 38 in which the water level is maintained substantially constant by customary means with additional make-up Water being supplied through a supply tube 39.

' From the reservoir 38 the water tube 40 leads to a pump 41 which pumps water upwardly through a tube 42 that has an exit end 43 emptying into the top trough 33.

The ice that is formed on the outer surface of the evaporator shell 13 is removed by removing means operated by rotation of the central shaft 26. This removing means is driven by the rotation of the shaft 26 which rotates a transverse drive bar 44. This drive bar is held against a shoulder 45 on the projecting end of the drive shaft 26 by means of a nut 46 on the threaded end of this shaft. As shown in FIGURE 2 the drive bar 44 is held spaced from the adjacent end closure 15. The end of the shaft 25 beyond the nut 46 is reduced in diameter as indicated fat 47 and is rotatably supported in a bearing 4S fastened Within the end Wall 34.

The opposite end of the ice removing means comprises a ring 49 extending around this end of the evaporator shell 13 and movable on a second bearing 50 between the inner surface of the ring 49 and the outer surface of the shell 13.

Extending between the drive bar 44 and the ring 49 are a pair of ice breaker rods 51 that are preferably made of stainless steel and that are located in this embodiment diametrically opposite each other. embodiment are parallel to each other and extend longitudinally of the evaporator shell 13. Such an Iarrangement is not of course absolutely required, as these rods may extend in sections of helices or in any other manner These rods in thisV desired. The spacing of the rods from the shell is fairly close with one example being about 1/32 inch.

Positioned beneath the path of travel of the rods 51 is a perforated met-al trough S2 provided with a plurality of spaced openings 53. As is shown in FIGURE l, this trough is of -arcuate cross section and is fastened in place by having edge flanges S4 engaging outwardly extending edge flanges 55 on the catch basin 36.

The operation of the ice maker is as follows. Water circulated by means of the pump 41 ilows into the trough 33 and from there through the openings 37 onto the outer surface of the stationary evaporator shell 13. -The water is frozen into ice on the shell with the excess water being recirculated by Way of the constant supply reservoir and the pump 41. j

The ice on the shell 13 is removed in the form of Hakes by means of the rotation of the shaft 26 by the gear reducer 29. Rotation of the shaft 26 which in one embodiment is at about 12 rpm. rotates the end drive bar 44 which in turn moves the ice breaker rods 51 around the cylindrical evaporator shell 13 to crack ice therefrom. As pointed out earlier, the end ring 49 opposite the drive bar 44 is moved along with the rods 51.

Ice flaked from the evaporator 13 by operation of the removing apparatus falls onto the perforated metal trough 52 along with the excess water. The ice is retained on this trough while the water flows through the openings 53 as previously described. The rotation of the ice removal apparatus causes the rods 51 to sweep the ice from the t-rough and over the right-hand ange 54 of FIGURE 1 to fall into a customary receiver (not shown).

Because the end closures 14 and 15 are refrigerated by the cold evaporator shell 13 it has been found that ice tends to form between the end closures and the drive bar 44 and ring 49. If not removed, this end ice would tend to jam the apparatus. However, means are provided for removing accumulated ice from the end closures by providing a pair of cutter blocks 56 on the drive bar 44 and a pair of similar cutter blocks 57 on the ring 49. As soon as the ice on the end closures accumulates to a thickness sufficient to be engaged by the blocks 56 and 57, the ice is scraped away.v

As can be seen from the above description of the invention the evaporator is cylindrical so as to provide a continuous outer surface in lateral cross section, Liquid refrigerant is maintained in the evaporator at all times so that is also acts as an accumulator by flowing liquid refrigerant in the bottom and drawing gaseous refrigerant out the top. The evaporator is mounted at one end only on -a heat barrier insulating sleeve so that the assembly is cantilevered. The outer end bearing for the drive shaft 26 is also carried by the evaporator, being located Within the axial tube 17 of the evaporator, This drive shaft 26 drives the ice removing means through a single linkage which as shown is the transverse drive bar 44 opposite to and spaced from the outer end 15 of the evaporator assembly.

With the ice maker of this invention there is no necessity for providing any rotary seals either in the refrigerant supply lines or in the water supply lines. Furthermore, no oil seals are required. This means that both the water supply and ice is kept uncontaminated. l

The breaker bars illustrated at 51 perform a dual function, not only do they break the ice loose in ake form to be collected by the trough 52 but they also sweep the accumulated ice from this trough to fall into Iany type container desired. The trough 52 of course fulfills the dual function of collecting the ice and separating the excess water therefrom.

Having described our invention as related to the embodiment shown in the .accompanying drawings, it is our intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property or p-rivilege is claimed is defined Ias follows:

1. An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow elongated evaporator shell having a pair of opposite ends and an external surface; mounting means to which one end of said shell is operatively attached for supporting the shell; a hollow axial tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell, one endl of said tube being secured to said mounting means; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube; means for supplying water to said external surface of said shell for freezing thereon; movable means adjacent said external `surface for removing said ice in flakes; driving means for said movable ice removing means extending from said one end of the shell, through said hollow axial tube and through said other end; and bearing means in said tube for said driving means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bearing means is located entirely adjacent said tube other end,

3. An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow elongated evaporator `shell having a pair of opposite ends and an -`external surface; a closure for each of said ends; mounting means to which a closure at one end and thus said shell is operatively attached for supporting the shell with the other end extended and free; a hollow axial tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell and through said end closures, one endV of said tube being secured to said mounting means; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube; means for'supplying water to said external surface of said shell for freezing thereon; movable means adjacent said external `surface for removing said ice in akes; driving means for said movable ice removing means extending from said one end of the shell, through said hollow tube and through said other end; and bearing means Iadjacent said shell other end between said tube and driving means, the driving means being otherwise spaced from said tube.

4. An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow, elongated, generally cylindrical, evaporator shell having a pair of opposite ends and an external surface; a closure for each of said ends; mounting means to which a closure at one end and thus said shell is operatively attached for supporting the shell with the other end extended and free; a hollow tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell and through said end closures axially of said cylindrical shell, one end of said tube being secured to Said mounting means; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube; means for supplying water to said external surface of said shell for freezing thereon; movable means adjacent said external surface for removing said ice in flakes; driving means for said movable ice removing means extending from said one end of the shell, through said hollow tube and through said other end; attaching means adjacent said shell other end fastened to said driving means and carrying the corresponding end of said removing means; bearing means adjacent said shell other end between said tube and driving means; and second bearing means on the outer surface of said shell at said one end for supporting the corresponding end of said removing means.

5. An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow, elongated, generally cylindrical, evaporator shell having a pair of opposite ends and an external surface; a closure for each of said ends; mounting means to which a closure at one end and thus said shell is operatively attached for supporting the shell with the other end extended and free; a hollow heat ba-rrier insulating means extending between said shell and said mounting means and spacing the shell from the mounting means; a hollow tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell and through said end closures axially of said cylindrical shell, one end of said tube being secured to said mounting means; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube, said refrigerant supply means extending through said heat barrier; means for supplying water to said external surface of said shell for freezing thereon; movable means adjacent said external surface for removing said ice in flakes; driving means for said movable ice removing means extending from said one end of the shell, through said hollow tube and through said other end; attaching means adjacent said shell other end fastened to said driving means and carrying the corresponding end of said removing means; bearing means adjacent said shell other end between said tube and driving means; and second Ibearing means on the outer surface of said shell at said one end for supporting the corresponding end of said removing means.

6.' An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow, elongated evaporator shell having a p-air of opposite ends and an external surface; a closure for each of said ends; mounting means to which a closure at one end and thus said shell is operatively attached for supporting the shell with the other end extended and free; a hollow axial tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell and through said end closures, one end of said tube being secured to said mounting means; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube; means for supplying water to said external surface Vof said shell for freezing thereon; removing means adjacent said external surface and movable in a path therearound for removing said ice in akes; driving means for said movable ice removing means extending from said one end of the shell, through said hollow tube and through said other end; and a receiver means for said ice spaced beneath said external surface to receive flake ice therefrom, said receiver means being adjacent and beneath said path whereby the movable means, in its movement, dislodges said ice therefrom, and said receiver containing openings to permit water to flow from said ice therethrough.

7. An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow, elongated, generally cylindrical, evaporator shell adapted to operate at a subfreezing temperature having a pair of opposite ends and an external surface; a closure for each of said ends; mounting means for said shell warmer than said temperature; a hollow heat barrier insulating means extending between said shell and said mounting means and spacing the shell from the mounting means, said heat barrier being attached to one end of said shell; a hollow tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell and through said end closures axially of said cylindrical shell; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube, said refrigerant supply means extending through said heat barrier; means for supplying water to said external surface of said shell for freezing thereon; removing means adjacent said external surface and movable in a path therearound for removing said ice in flakes; driving means for said movable ice removing means extending from said one end of the shell, through said hollow tube and through said other end; attaching means adjacent said shell other end fastened to said driving means and carrying the corresponding end of said removing means; bearing means adjacent said shell other end between said tube and driving means; second bearing means on the outer surface of said shell at said one end for supporting the corresponding end of said removing means; and a receiver for said ice spaced beneath said external surface to receive ake ice therefrom, said receiver being adjacent and beneath said path whereby the movable means, in its movement, dislodges said ice therefrom, and said receiver containing openings to permit water to flow from said ice therethrough.

8. An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow, elongated evaporator shell having a pair of opposite ends and an external surface; a closure for each of said ends; mounting means to which a closure at one end and thus said shell is operatively attached for supporting the shell with the other end extended; a hollow tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell and through said end closures axially of said cylindrical shell; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube; means for supplying water to said external surface of said shell for freezing thereon; removing means adjacent said external surface and movable in a path therearound for removing said ice in flakes; driving means for said movable ice removing means extending from said one end of the shell, through said hollow tube and through said other end; attaching means adjacent said shell other end fastened to said driving means and carrying the corresponding end of said -removing means; Kbearing means adjacent said shell other end between said tube and driving means; `second bearing means on the outer surface of said shell at said one end for supporting the corresponding end of said removing means, said removing means including an annular support extending around said shell and engaging said second bearing means; and means on each of said attaching means and annular support each adjacent an end closure for removing accumulated ice from the end closures on movement of said removing means.

9. An ice making apparatus, comprising: a hollow, elongated evaporator shell having a pair of opposite ends and an external surface; a closure for each of said ends; mounting means to which a closure at one end and thus said shell is operatively attached for supporting the shell with the other end extended; a hollow tube extending generally longitudinally within said shell and through said end closures axially of said cylindrical shell; means for supplying refrigerant internally of said shell but externally of said tube; means for supplying Water to said external surface of said shell for freezing thereon; removing means adjacent said external surface and movable in a path therearound for removing said ice in flakes; a receiver for said ice spaced beneath said external surface to receive through said hollow tube and through said other end;

attaching means adjacent said shell other end fastened to said driving means and carrying the corresponding end of said removing means; bearing means adjacent said shell other end between said tube and driving means; second bearing means on the outer surface of said shell at said one end for supporting the corresponding end of said removing means, said removing means including an annular support extending around said shell and engaging said second bearing means; and means on each of said attaching means and annular support each adjacent an end closure for removing. accumulated ice from the end closures on movement of said removing means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,020,759 3/1912 Holden 62-354 X 1,954,518 4/1934 Downer 62-354X 1,963,842 6/1934 Gay 62-71 2,145,331 5/1936` Arensberg 62--354X 3,159,010 12/1964 Kattis 62-354 3,159,986 12/1964 King 62-354 3,163,020 12/1964 Ross 62-138 3,191,398 6/1965 Rader 62--354 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

W. E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner.' 

1. AN ICE MAKING APPARATUS, COMPRISING: A HOLLOW ELONGATED EVAPORATOR SHELL HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSITE ENDS AND AN EXTERNAL SURFACE; MOUNTING MEANS TO WHICH ONE END OF SAID SHELL IS OPERATIVELY ATTACHED FOR SUPPORTING THE SHELL, A HOLLOW AXIAL TUBE EXTENDING GENERALLY LONGITUDINALLY WITHIN SAID SHELL, ONE END OF SAID TUBE BEING SECURED TO SAID MOUNTING MEANS; MEANS FOR SUPPORTING REFRIGERANT INTERNALLY OF SAID SHELL BUT EXTERNALLY OF SAID TUBE; MEANS FOR SUPPLYING WATER TO SAID EXTERNAL SURFACE OF SAID SHELL FOR FREEZING THEREON; MOVABLE MEANS ADJACENT SAID EXTERNAL SURFACE FOR REMOVING SAID ICE IN FLAKES; DRIVING MEANS FOR SAID MOVABLE ICE REMOVING MEANS EXTENDING FROM SAID ONE END OF THE SHELL, THROUGH SAID HOLLOW AXIAL TUBE AND THROUGH SAID OTHER END; AND BEARING MEANS IN SAID TUBE FOR SAID DRIVING MEANS. 